Social Security vs. Private Savings

The real problem is that Americans have forgotten the skills associated with frugality, which is an important life skill.

April 24, 2014 1:55 p.m. ET

Steven Johnson, responding (Letters, April 17) to Christopher DeMuth's "Capital for the Masses" (op-ed, April 8), claims that on the average household income of $62,000 a year or less it is difficult to invest in equities. The real problem is that Americans have forgotten the skills associated with frugality, which is an important life skill. My wife and I thrived on far less than that when we were young and making minimum wage, if we were so lucky. You drive old cars and keep them maintained. You don't go out to eat...